A golden coin with two sides
by blackdoor66
Summary: Rated T. One-shot. In the eyes of many people, Serena Yvorne is a kind, lovely and cheerful young woman with little to no flaws. However, when she asks her secret crush Ash ketchum for a date [he's not aware of], they run into a casino where Serena's darker side will be pulled out to the world. contains some amourshipping


_**A golden coin with two sides**_

 _ **An amour shipping one-shot**_

 _ **rated T for somewhat mature themes, some verbal language and possible violence.**_

 _ **disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON WHATSOEVER. enjoy the story!**_

In the eyes of the people who had met her,Serena Yvorne Is good hearted, innocent young woman, one that didn't have any major flaws.

The first impression that one could receive from the blonde haired lady was that she was a very caring person that would assist he friends when in need, mostly when it's an emotional ordeal like depression or frustration. If you'd have a bad day you could always count on Serena to make your day slightly better by cheering you up with her words of compassion and kindness, not to mention her lovely smile that she was blessed with, resulting in a cheerful girl that could make a river of tears to stop, and turn every frown upside down. Another fine quality that she carried was her being an observant person, capturing every single detail in her surroundings, no matter how small and insignificant it was. This small perk of hers enhanced further her Aesthetic ability, allowing her to make a garbage can full of trash look quite fine, beautiful and [as her talent suggests] Aesthetic, causing it to stand out among it's awfully repulsive species.

Speaking of talents, Serena was a fine baker that could go easily into the professional scene if she wanted too; you could simply put her in a room with an oven, eggs and some other components and she could bake you without breaking a sweat the loveliest cake that you've ever had in your entire life. To put it simple, Serena and kitchen went well together [no sexism intended, she's just this good of a baker]. That didn't mean she was some sort of a stereotypical submissive woman; She had a backbone, and was capable of standing on her own feet when needed to, even when things got extremely rough and intense, like a fight with a rival performer that tried to put her down; Serena would just come with a better insult and give her a piece of her mind while at it, proving her verbal assaulter that she's no spineless woman.

In terms of cons, however, this fine lady had little to none; The only thing that her beloved ones could consider a flaw was her slight flustering when she approached a certain crush of hers, to whom she couldn't resist his charming, genuine smile, his messy yet fitting raven hair and his most noble personality ,even though he was one dense mother-lover when it came to the matters of romance and love. Many people, including his closest friends believed that he didn't know how babies were born, or what the word girlfriend meant. Still, it didn't pose an issue, as she was persistent and determined to get through his dense, and make him her boyfriend [or maybe husband? nah that's going too far, let's stick with boyfriend for now].

So, all in all, Serena Yvorne was a talented, lovely young woman who didn't seem to have any sorts of flaws. That is until she, along with her traveling companions discovered that she had one major bad habit that changed her entire kind-hearted character to a rather more 'shady' lady, definitely more different than Serena's normal attitude and behavior.

Some of you might ask yourself; how did this happen? are there any evidence for this so called foxy personal of hers? and in what position did she exactly end up? To answer these question, a story need to be told folks about the day when Serena and her friends reached lumiouse, one of the finest cities in the kalos region, on a small, yet meaningful Friday.

* * *

Ash ketchum yawned loudly as he sat down on one of lumiouse city's local parks grassy ground, stretching his arms upwards with a slight grunt. Man, oh man, that was quite the day for him; having himself and his team training hard since dawn [which meant nine in the morning for him, but that's not important] to near dusk. All of his pokemon were working none stop and they've been doing their very best to reach their fullest potential, allowing them to stand in par with the gym leader's pokemon and defeat them.

He didn't slack off either himself, as he participated with them on their trainings with jugging exercises, some workout that help them shape up, and some meditation time that helped them relax and focus [at least that's what frogadier said]. Thus at the end of the day, all of them laid down on the soft grass, staring at the sun slowly setting, closing in her daily shift and switching place with the moon soon enough.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" commented a soft, feminine voice on the sunset's magical beauty it possessed. The teen turned his head to face the newcomer and found his friend Serena approaching him, her blonde hair lightly swaying in the wind. Ash smiled at her gently, silently welcoming her. "Yea.." he agreed and added; "I really love watching the sun setting like that, you know.."

Serena hummed in agreement, " It's kind of relaxing to watch after a long day"

"Can't argue with that" The raven haired boy chuckled before turning to her, "How was your day?" He asked her with slight interest. "It was pretty good" She replied while beaming at her companion.

"May I?" She gestured towards the ground, asking her raven haired friend if she could sit down next to him. The teen moved a bit to the side, giving her some space to sit on and nodding.

Serena sat down next to Ash with a smile before continuing; "I had some practice with braxien and pancham on our usual drills and entrance, and besides that we bought some new accessories, so that's great."

"That's great to hear, Serena"

"Thanks" She replied back politely, "How was yours?"

Ash rubbed his eyes before letting out a small yawn while covering his mouth; "Pretty much the same as yours, except the accessories stuff. We just trained all day, and now their resting" He explained to the kalosian girl who listened patiently to every word he said.

Right on cue, a small chirp could be heard from behind the two and a familiar yellow mouse climbed on Ash's hat, greeting him and Serena.

"Hey pikachu, how you're feeling?" Ash greeted his long time friend with a scratch on his head, in which he gave a happy cry to say he's feeling just fine. Ash grinned at the sound of his friend while Serena giggled at the sight of the two. They were quite close to each other and could be easily considered as brothers [despite one being a pokemon and the other human].

Ash suddenly frowned, trying to remember something he had forgot, but to no avail, "Hey, Serena" he turned to his childhood friend, who glanced at him puzzled, "Weren't Bonnie and Clamont with you or something?"

Serena put her finger on her chin, pondering on where the brothers could be. Her face was then struck with realization as she remembered their whereabouts; "Oh yea, they've said that they're staying at their dad's place for the weekend"

"Makes sense" Ash nodded, "I mean, they probably missed their dad and wants some quality time with him. I know I would l would visit my mom if I was In pallet town or something" He thought out loud.

Serena hummed in return thinking the same; since the lemon haired siblings were away at their father's for the weekend, it would mean that she and her secret crush would spend a lot of time together alone. Even though she'd kept her usual face she was squealing with delight from the insane like an insane fan girl who had just shake hands with Benedict cumberbutch [honestly though, who wouldn't? guy's has the face of an angel] and it was all thanks to the lovely Clamont and the adorable Bonnie. God bless their souls.

Now- time to take action.

"So...Ash" Serena confronted her future boyfriend, who turned his head with a questioned [and an adorable] look; "What's up Serena?" he asked puzzled

Having herself awing from his cute look, Serena coughed to the side for a few moments and twirled her fingers nervously. "I was thinking... Since it's Friday night and were on our own, I was wondering if you'd like to err...you know.." She trailed off, her confidence withering away slowly with each passing moment.

Noticing his friend lowering her head, Ash slightly tilted his head to the side, clearly confused and rather curious regarding Serena's question; "What?" He asked innocently while gazing at the blonde, who glanced at him back looking flustered. Was it just him or was she getting red?

She then took a deep breath and made her move- "would you like to go tonight around the city with me?" She asked with a rather high pitched voice.

Ash simply blinked at her, eyebrows going up from surprise; this is what she had wanted from him?

"You want us to go out on Friday night?"

Serena's already red face had gone even more red before she nodded weakly.

"Around the city?"

Her red face had transformed to the color of crimson, and she nodded again.

"Just the two of us?"

Oh dear, she was beginning to feel slightly dizzy. Somehow though, she managed to move her head enough to consider it a nod.

Ash hummed for a second, seemingly thinking for himself regarding Serena's offer of spending the night. After what seemed to be forever for the poor Serena, Ash came back from his trail of thoughts; "Gee, I don't know Serena.. I mean this sounds pretty great but our pokemon's pretty tired, so I don't think they'd like to go around the city.."

"Oh, that's no problem! they can stay at the pokemon center, can't they?" Serena exclaimed quickly, solving Ash's problem and saving her chance for a date. The teen blinked at her before realizing she was right and burst out laughing at his oblivious act. "Oh yea, you're right" He admitted while laughing. Once he calmed down he looked at her with his typical heart melting smile and scratched his nose ; "Then That'll a really great way to spend the weekend"

Serena could feel butterflies in her heart as her face lightened up with her lovely smile. She managed to get a date with Ash ketchum.

Nailed it.

* * *

For twelve minutes straight, Ash ketchum had been waiting for Serena to come out of her room so they could go out; They made it to the pokemon center and kept all of their pokemon at the care of nurse joy for a checkup, followed by leaving them at their room with enough food and water, not to mention some TV and games [Pikachu wanted to play that new bloodborne game so much, though Ash didn't understand what was the hype all about]. Anyway, he and the blonde haired girl agreed that they'd meet at eight PM and proceed to hang out in lumiouse city. Well, It was now Eight and ten minutes, and no sight of Serena just yet.

Ash sighed as he checked his attire yet again- Black jeans with a pair of snickers, and a nice black T-shirt covered with a blue sweatshirt that complemented his body, making him look more thin and muscular. Though he'd felt reluctant about this, The teen left his hat out of his attire, exposing his messy raven haired to the world. To him, everything about his outfit seemed just fine, though he didn't know why he cared so much; sure he didn't want to look like a homeless person when you hang out with somewhat, but to make sure he was tidy and clean to this level? he was hanging out with Serena and that's it, nothing more. It's not like she had romantic feelings about him.

Right?

He shook his head quickly to clear himself out of these thoughts, and knocked the door with haste; "Serena what's taking you so long?" He called to his friend while tapping on the floor with his foot.

"Coming right up Ash!" She chirped from her room while humming rather loudly; She was in a really good mood- in fact, ever since he had agreed to go out with her tonight she was pretty full of life and joyful. Wonder why.

Catching his attention, Ash heard the doorknob's cracking and soon the door itself opening, revealing a rather stunning, jaw dropping figure; In front of him stood Serena while wearing a rather beautiful yellow dress that was fitting on her very well, complementing her feminine features, especially in the chest area [which slightly distracted our teenager]. Meanwhile, slight shades of makeup could be seen on her face while her long, honey colored hair was tied to a ponytail, making her look even more gorgeous then she already was.

Ash gaped at her, clearly not expecting to see Serena who blushed at him as he stared at her for some time. "Is something wrong?" she asked, thinking that she got something wrong in her hair or something.

"No, nothing at all!" the raven haired teen said flustered before coughing and offering her a smile; "Ready to go?"

The blonde beauty nodded before stepping out of the room and heading with her secret beloved out of the center into the city of lights.

And boy oh boy, lumiouse city deserved this grand title alright- As the two strolled out of the center they were showered by multiple lights which came from the great illuminating prism tower that stood tall, towering the life filled city that prided it the most. Dozens and dozens of people filled the streets, bringing all of their energy and their joyful attitude out to the world and sharing it with the others, creating a happy and lively atmosphere in the magnificent city.

Back to the two, Ash and Serena reached the colorful plaza and sat down for some time in this fancy restaurant called "etoiles platine". For some reason though, Ash saw one of Serena's eyebrows going up as a skeptic look formed on her face when she stared at the purple sign, when he asked what was wrong she simply shrugged after a moment and said that the name was just odd. anyway, the [soon to be] couple entered the restaurant and after some time, found themselves enjoying from a very delicious meatballs spaghetti dish that satisfied the hunger of the two, followed by a small dessert in the form of Brule cream.

Soon enough, the two paid the bill for their dinner and stepped back to their little trip in the bustling and gorgeous city of lights.

Since then they've been walking for an hour, talking to each other and spotting some hidden, exciting places and overall, enjoying themselves. It was quite fun really; The conversation went smoothly as they talked about favorite shows, movies and some funny mumbo jumbo that made them giggle so loudly that people were occasionally staring at the two awkwardly. They didn't care though, they were having a blast and they intended to keep it that way.

That is, until they reached the eastern part of lumiouse city, as Ash glanced to his side and stopped Serena with his hand.

The boy looked up to see one of the most luxurious buildings in his entire life - To the sidewalk a tremendous, wide building stood proudly amongst many shops and bistros as it projected a bright yellow neon light that made it shine like a diamond in the rough. Many wealthy looking people in their twenties, thirties and even seventies entered the buildings on a wide, large red carpet that went onto the insides of this well made structure. On the roof of the building a neon sign in the color of cyan stood tall that said; "le casino de diamant fou ".

Ash stared with Awe at this place; never in his life he had seen something so spectacular, so shinning and just so amazing. This place was truly marvelous, yet so mysterious and inviting with its neon lights and the Hollywood look that this place held. This glorious structure called him, and being the adventurous champ he is, he was SO going inside.

Serena, on the other hand was less thrilled then Ash; Sure, this place looked inviting and just jaw dropping from the inside. But in its essence, Serena knew what this place was- A casino; A place where people would bet their life savings or somebody Else's, and just win more and more until they'd lose it someone else or even worse. Though she had never been in one, the blonde had a strong dislike towards casino so much it gave her a bad taste in her mouth, mostly because she loathed the act of gambling and considered it rotten and just corrupting.

"You OK, Serena?" A male voice pulled the blonde girl back from her thoughts, She glanced to her side to see Ash staring at her with worry. Serena blinked before shrugging off whatever thoughts about filthy casinos she had and smiled at him; "Sure! why were you asking?"

" you've been staring at this place for some time" He stated while pointing at the casino, "Are you sick or something?"

Serena waved her hands dismissively as she began to feel her face heating up; "No no, I'm fine Ash, it's just that the casino looked so amazing, I couldn't look away" she spat a rather convenient excuse that Ash bought without question.

"Yea, I get what you mean" He gave one of his goofy smiles and looked back at the proud casino with curiosity; "A casino, huh? I don't think I've ever been into one of these.." He thought out loud before turning back to his [unoffical] date, "What about you?"

Serena shook her head in response to the teen's question, where he hummed loudly before grabbing her hand and heading towards the entrance. The kalosian, however, stopped the raven haired teen, causing him to look at her with surprise.

"Why are we going there?" She asked frowning; She was not planning on going into casinos, given their ugly nature.

"Why not?" Ash asked with pure innocence, unaware of his friend's strong dislike for casinos.

"Because this place looks really shady Ash, and we're not even in the right age to enter" She partly lied to him- Casinos DID leave a very devious and an unethical impression on her since she believed that they were filled with notorious gangsters and mafia heads.

"We're eighteen, Serena.." Ash deadpanned at her, "And besides, this place looks fine! I mean, look at all those people, they don't look shady at all!"

Serena just huffed at him, remaining unconvinced , "I still don't like it". Ash stared at her for a couple of moments before sighing and retreating from glorious his charge to the casino; "Alright" he said disappointed, "If you don't want too, that's fine, We'll just go somewhere else..."

Serena gazed with pity at a very saddened Ash and was filled with guilt- he wanted to get in a casino for the first time in his life and her she was, stopping him completely from doing so, God, she felt like she was holding a puppy with a short leash- makes you feel like a crappy person.

"Alright fine" She sighed and said reluctantly, despite giving Ash a soft smile. The teen looked back at her with, his eyes possessing a new spark from Serena's words. "You sure?" he asked her, In which she beamed at him, even though she wasn't a big fun of heading into that casino.

Ash's face were lit like a candle, and soon enough Serena found herself being dragged quickly into the casino she despised to no end.

One of the most common saying about people is that 'the outside doesn't really count, it's the inside that does'. That philosophy applies very well to every living being and apparently in the eyes of Ash and Serena- to casinos as well.

Walking through the main door with the horde of gamblers, the teens were greeted with many noises, scents and jaw dropping, eyes popping looks; In front of them stretched out a humongous field filled with large, golden pillars standing on the red and black floor in order to support the silver colored ceiling that held in the middle a giant, beautiful chandelier that seemed to wink to the two with its unique glow and magic. Filling the area were lots of slot machines colored in black and red that were constantly making CHA-CHING sounds, indicating victory and rewards to the players who screamed in joy as they began counting the chips they've earned from the machine. In the middle, a tiny plaza was organized by the casino's workers with many men and women sitting at wooden, well made tables with packs of cards and roulettes that were used to play poker, blackjack, craps, you name it!

As they slowly walked with uncertainty and curiosity as they've checked the luxurious place out from the bottom to the top while trying not to drool over or run into somebody. Ash was smiling from ear to ear like a small child, clearly enjoying the marvelous sight that was bestowed upon him.

Serena, on the other hand found herself stuck looking at the depths of the casino, but not from fear- far from that, she was not expecting something so gorgeous. so beautiful, so...just wow. She always considered casinos to be shady, tiny places filled with the scents of cigars and perverted old people who could bury you in a desert with a simple nod. Never in her life she was so wrong, and to be honest, she was glad that she had listened to Ash and head inside; otherwise, she would've missed a sight that could beat any royal ballroom that the best of kings and queens could offer.

Suddenly, she felt The teens hand yank her to the main counter where a tall, handsome man in a well made suit stood patiently for customers who wanted to convert their allowance into chips, allowing them to participate the gambling activities.

Putting a smile on his face and three hundred poke'dollars on the counter, Ash approached the counter; "Excuse me, how much does a chip worth here?" he asked

"The standard one costs one poke'dollar each"

"Then I'll have two hundred , please" The employee nodded and took the cash, trading them with ten black chips. Ash collected them when he noticed a very reluctant looking Serena shying away from the counter.

"Serena.." Ash sweat-dropped at her odd behavior; "why are you being like this? if it's about the 'shady looking' thing again, then you need to stop worrying. I mean, look at this guy- does he look like some Al Pachino to you?" The teen gestured towards the suited employee, who's expression indicated he was rather confused regarding what was happening.

"It's not it, this guy's actually pretty cute", though the handsome worker winked at her and gave a smile as a sign of gratitude, Ash raised his eyebrow, questioning the meaning of this sentence.

Realizing she might've offended her crush, Serena raised her hands in protest; " Nononono I meant this guy was kind of cute, not REALLY 'cute' ,while you are on a whole different level of 'hotness' level so basically, while this guy is kind of 'cute' you are WAY more than kind of 'cute, you're like on the 'caring, adorable and se.."

She trailed off when she saw that Ash's face turned into a tomato, making hers one as well.

"What I meant to say is..." she said flustered and cleared her throat, "I've never gambled before"

Registering what his friend just said, the raven haired teen blinked a few times. "So?"

"So? what do you mean 'so'?"

"It means- so what, Serena" Ash explained himself before sighing and putting a soft smile on his face, "I've never done gambling before but it doesn't really bothers me, and it shouldn't bother you as well. We're just having fun here with some games and stuff"

"But Ash, it's not just a game, it's a game where you bet money on" Serena countered as she stated a fact. "And besides, I don't know how to play any of those games.."

"What are you talking about, of course you do!" Ash declared with a grin, " Remember that time when we you, me , Bonnie and Clamont sat down and played poker, and we made bets on some candies that we bought back there in laverre city? It's exactly the same, except were betting on money instead of candy".

The blonde's eyes widened at her crush's decent memory- he got her there, she wasn't giving up so easily though; "It's still money Ash, that's not making things easier.."

"Not if it's like a hundred or something" Ash stated back

"That's not a tiny amount of money.. "

"It is! Look Serena.." Ash said while grabbing her hands tenderly and smiling yet again, melting the heart of the blonde girl as she gazed into his deep black eyes, "We're out on a Friday night to have fun, so how about we will go over there.." He then gestured towards the small gaming plaza while imploring her, "And have some fun?"

Serena lowered her head, feeling guilty yet again- it was her idea to go out, and she kind of made Ash spend some time waiting for her before the 'date', and here he was so close to her, holding her hands: That's as far as she'd managed to get all this time when they were traveling, so maybe she should listen to him and have some fun with him. It could be nice really, having herself shattering her first impression that she had made on the gambling scene in the casinos.

"Yea.. let's have some fun!"She beamed at him before proceeding to the counter and handing two hundred poke'dollars of her own and receiving her share of chips.

Without wasting a moment, the two youths went to the table game plaza and approached a group of some men and women in their twenties who were wearing fancy suits and dresses at the cost of an entire grocery store who sat on a fancy table while holding cards. The likely rich people stared at Ash and Serena with eyes frowned and lips curling to a mocking smile; they had never seen the likes of those teens here before, meaning that they could make some easy cash from those two.

"uhh, hi" Ash greeted sheepishly, "What are you guys playing?"

The group of adults stared at each other before gazing back at the nervous raven haired boy. "We're playing taki and right now I'm on a roll sweetheart, so why don't you join us and help me pass through the month" A blonde man in his twenties joked on Ash's expense, causing him to bite his lip and slightly groan from annoyance.

Serena rolled her eyes with disgust at the adult's rude behavior, and turned to the card dealer, "Excuse me mister, but what game is this? " she asked politely.

" Texas holdem poker, young miss." The card dealer answered politely before offering her and Ash a place to sit in the table; "Would you two like to participate?", Serena nodded hesitantly before sitting down with her friend and placing their chips.

" Hey, since when we're lettin teen wolf and dolly play here with the grownups huh?" The blonde protested yet again but was ignored by the rest of the players

"The game will now commence!" the card dealer declared before mixing the pack and handing the players two cards each. Looking at a rather nervous Serena, who seemed timid and lost, Ash nudged her shoulder to get her attention.

"You ok there?" he asked, while she simply gave back a sigh; "I'm just being nervous, I've never played poker in a casino before..Aren't there any special rules or something if you're playing in a casino?"

"Not really" He said, "It's pretty much the same as playing poker everywhere. I'll give you a small tip though: one of the easiest ways to win in poker is keeping a straight face, like this-" Ash's face changed into a blank expression that bared no emotion at all.

"That way, no one will be able to tell whether you're happy with the cards you'll get and fold. It's all about tricking the players" He explained in a monotone voice, causing Serena giggle from his silly, yet adorable attempt to help her.

"Raising to fifty " A voice brought the two back to reality as a dark haired man in his thirties shoved some chips to the center of the table with a stoic face. Soon enough the rest followed suit as each counted the amount of fifty chips each and pushed it to the table. Serena observed them and turned her head to see if Ash would do the same; the raven haired boy counted fifty of his chips as well and put them in the table's center as a small tower he had made out of them. Seeing so, she felt encouraged and mimicked her crush's actions, putting the amount of chips necessary to proceed in the game.

After the tiny ceremony had ended, the card dealer took the card pack and gave it so Serena, who looked at it puzzled and confused. "Go on, miss" the dealer urged her gently, "mix the cards and split them to half".

Hesitating, the blonde picked the card deck and began shuffling it for a few seconds and splitting the deck by lifting half of the cards and putting it on the table. The dealer smiled calmly as he grabbed one card from the top of the deck and placed it on the other side of the table. Soon enough, he put the deck together, drew three cards from it and placed them on the table. Several groans could be heard from some of the participants around the table, indicating that luck wasn't really on their side while others remained silent, keeping their hand and luck classified to others.

Now it was the time for the second round of bets, as each of the players stared at the other in an attempt to find any hints regarding the quality of their hand and make a fitting decision in accordance. Serena stared at the trio of cards at the center of the table which was known as the 'flop' and bit her lips with a frown , seemingly displeased with the flop that was handed to her from the card dealer. That act, however, did not go unnoticed by a certain blonde jerk that sat close to her as he grinned deviously.

"Things didn't go the way you wanted them too, hon?" He taunted her, earning a glare from Ash who didn't appreciate his attitude towards the blonde. "Shut it, you ass" he spat back before turning to Serena; "Don't listen to him Serena, he's just being a jerk".

For some reason however, Ash could've sworn that he saw something change deep inside in the girl's eyes.

"Uhh, no not really.." She replied as she began shuffling in her chair with discomfort while lowering her head with discouragement. The cocky adult's grin got wider, this was going to be so easy.

"Well, it's ok sweetheart" he falsely comforted her, "Why don't you raise anyway? I'm sure luck will favor you in the end, right?"

"Gee.. I don't know, should I?" The blonde asked hesitantly, showing a lack of confidence in her tone.

"No, don't listen to him Serena, he's tricking you!" Ash butted in as he tried to warn Serena and stop her from playing into the adult's hand, who simply shot up a glare at the boy that told him to back off.

"Back it up, kid, she should listen to the pros instead of an amateur like you. And besides, like I'd trick a beauty like her" he replied back and quickly flattered Serena, who was slightly blushing from his compliment.

"Well.." she spoke up in a weak, shy voice, "How much do you think that I should raise, mister?"

The blonde man's grin grew wider as he heard her innocent voice- one hundred percent beauty, and zero percent brains, it was the perfect combination.

"How about you raise it by fifty? I mean, it's the smartest move that you could do, the pros do it all the time" he answered, acting like a mentor for the blonde. Ash was having none of this.

"Serena stop listening to this guy" he implored her to gain back her confidence and ignore the rude player," you're going to lose all of your money from your pokemon showcase win for a stupid reason. please, you've got to listen to me".

The young lady stared at her friend with an innocent, confused look and began to giggle; "It's ok Ash, this guy said he's a pro, so Il be just fine!".

Ash was about to open his mouth to retort but saw that all eyes were on him; he was making a racket. Deciding it would best to calm down and keep on playing, he reluctantly closed his mouth shut.

"Raising by fifty" She beamed at the other players as she grabbed a respectable amount of chips and putting them in the center, while the others followed suit.

Ash, however, stared at her with worry- she was being tricked by some asshole who went after her money, and unless she was lucky, she was going to lose her money soon enough. And after all that effort she had to put for the pokemon showcase for earning her rewards, she was going to a big cut of it [the money part, that is]. He didn't much care since he had participated a lots of pokemon battling competition and won a large part of them, resulting with him receiving a nice amount of cash, but it was not the point- the point was that Serena was being misled like a tiny lamb. If only she could understand that before it's too late. Unfortunately for him, she didn't, and the game soon reached its finale where the remaining players who didn't fold would show their cards, and the strongest hand would win all the money.

One by one, they all revealed their hands; some seemed to have lousy hands while others were more blessed with luck, as their hands were somewhat strong with one even holding a 'straight'. Eventually, the only one who didn't reveal their cards were Ash, Serena and the cunning adult, who was sitting laid back in his chair while chuckling at the two teens.

With a sigh, Ash showed his hand to the players as well as his misfortune; a 'two pairs' was not a very good hand. Not bad of course, but not exactly the best there is, putting him in a somewhat low spot.

"Nice hand you're holdin, pal" The more than ever blonde adult mocked Ash, who gritted his teeth from anger and began tapping with his foot on the floor. Serena glanced at him anxiously, feeling troubled from seeing her crush in a state like this.

"Go to hell" the teen spat back, earning a teeth baring grin from his foe.

"Anyway" he continued; "Looks like I win boys and girls" he declared as he revealed his cards with an overconfident grin- a series of five cards that was known as a 'flush' combo, one of the strongest hands in the game, and the strongest in the current season out of all of the hands.

The only one who had yet to reveal her hand was Serena, who shifted in her chair with discomfort, seemingly regretting her decision to stick to the endgame. She was in distress, and being the jerk he was, the blonde adult smirked as he couldn't let an opportunity like this to slip by.

"What's the matter doll face?" he asked her with a tiny baby tone; "You lost the game?"

"Alright that's enough!" Ash jumped from his sit only to feel a hand grabbing him tenderly, He looked down to see Serena smiling at him. But it wasn't her usual gentle, shy smile; there was something off about it- a rather cunning and foxy spark could be seen in her eyes, though tiny, and her smile seemed quite confident. He blinked at her for some time before he sat down, confused about what he had just see. She then proceeded to turn to her rival, who stayed cool with his eyes observing her with mockery and dishonor; "I don't know.." she said in a quivering tone, seemingly afraid of showing her hands.

And then she had revealed them, and silence fell down on the table like a meteor from the sky- Presented to them was a series of five cards that was known to be the 'four of a kind' combo, that was extremely rare to gain and the strongest hand out of all of the hands that were shown in the table.

"You tell me"

Without any signs of her lacking confidence or shyness, Serena sat with her arms crossed and a wide grin as she stared at the blonde adult. The man had his jaw dropped on the floor and eyes wide open; he was NOT expecting this. In fact, no one really expected that a young girl would come and play poker with the adults, having herself exposing her shy and unconfident nature and then all of a sudden get the second most strongest hand in the game with a smirk that was grin as...

it was then that everyone, including Ash, had realized that she was playing with them.

"You little bitch..." The blonde growled at her angrily, clearly not pleased with the fact that Serena tricked him like a professional. The young lady simply shrugged at his outrageous behavior and gave him a wink; "That's the game 'sweetheart', sometimes you win and sometimes you lose"

"Shut your god damn mouth kid, do you know who I am?!" The fuming adult was roaring at her with all of his might.

"Uhhh.. no?", his face turned to a pure shade red at this point, having himself humiliated and disgraced by some stupid punk who tricked him and took his money while laughing on his bloody expense.

"You're going to pay for this. I swear to god you're going to pay for this!" He screamed at her as he slammed his fist on the table and stormed off.

Ash was just speechless at his friend, who was glowing with joy as she collected all of the chips that she had won. He was just... confused; since when Serena could pull off stuff like that?!

"OK" Ash managed eventually get a word out, "How the hell did you do that" he demanded to know. The blonde girl simply beamed at him, pleased that she managed to catch her crush off guard and amaze him.

"Well; I remembered your advice about the poker face, and then this idiot was being ajerk so I thought to myself 'why not take it up a notch?" She explained as she happily counted her loot from her victory, "So I acted all scared and innocent to trick them into thinking that I'm bad at this game and make them raise the stakes, and just when the game's over I reveal my cards and just like that- I win!" she exclaimed with joy while clicking her fingers in a somewhat arrogant matter.

"So what do you think?" she asked Ash, who just stared at her dumbfound; to think that Serena was this cunning was not to be expected; she was always a shy and an honest girl, who wouldn't trick anyone for her own needs. Yet here she was, winning a cash prize that amounts to 700 poke'dollars, which was just unbelievable!

"What do I think? I think that was just amazing!" he praised her loudly while grinning at her, earning a blush from her, "You should be proud of yourself , Serena".

Serena just stared at him for a few moments before grinning from pleasure; "You're right, I should be" she admitted.

"So.. where do you want to go next?" he asked her as he got up from his chair, only to be stopped by Serena who grabbed his shoulder firmly. "I think we should stay in here" she said with a somewhat shady tone that Ash didn't seem to notice.

"Are you sure? cause there are other places to check out.."

"Yea" she cut him off abruptly, "Let's stay here" she made her decision, while Ash merely nodded and sat down to participate with his friend in another round of poker.

 _'right now, I'm on a roll'_

* * *

"Full house, I win! hand the money over folks"

Ash silently cursed himself for not insisting on leaving the poker table as he had witnessed his last chip go away to the grasp of his friend who was smirking arrogantly at the other players. The rest of the participants groaned loudly, displaying their deep loathing towards the blonde haired girl that had just won every penny that they've had in store, now forever gone to the lap of Serena Yvorne.

In all honesty, Ash couldn't blame them; for two hours they've been playing on and on, each time he would get a weaker hand, others he would get a stronger one. but not even once- not even freaking once had he or the other players had won a single round of the game, no matter how lucky everyone were nor their level of skill in this game, they couldn't win. They just couldn't. And everyone knew the reason for that;

Serena. Once a girl who had feared greatly of casinos and their activities, was now an arrogant, mean and an unreadable woman who's cunning and showing of mastery in the game of poker earned her a great deal of wins in those two hours. To Ash, it was quite the revolution since he knew that she was a novice; sure, she wasn't bad in this game, given that she did decently back then when they were playing with Bonnie and Clamont in the campfire for the fun, hardly caring whether she'd win or lose. But now, it was different- back then, he had thought to himself that he was imagining things, but now he was certain that when that blonde man was taunting her, it triggered something within her and made her nature change from her kind, shy and innocent one to the one's that currently in charge: A tricky woman that was as cunning as a fox that will use any possible methods in her disposal in order to win the game, or stay ahead of them.

And when he had meant any way, he meant any possible way; over the time, she was becoming more and more ruthless with her methods. It began as a loud grin or a smirk that irritated the other players and threw them off focus, and evolved into humiliating insults that were hitting far below the belt and vicious taunts that could make a man, no matter how calm he was, flip the table and just storm out of there, while she will be sitting there laid back, eyes calculating and judging as she gave a tooth baring smirk that was so arrogant, that it reeks from it. And the worst thing was that she seemed to enjoy it- the feeling of power and control that she had over the game was exquisite, and he knew that she felt so much ecstasy from it. It was like a drug that she couldn't get enough from it, and Ash knew very well that eventually it would hit her back like a boomerang , and hit her hard.

And he didn't want that to happen because he still didn't hate her, she was his friend; she was Serena who was always cheerful no matter how rough things looked at their end, she was a person who had would put up a genuine smile on her face in the morning when she greeted them, she was someone who wouldn't hurt others for no reason at all. She was kind, she was great to have around, she was... her. and now she wasn't being herself, and something had to be done to shift things back to normal before it's too late.

So all this time he had tried to muster up the courage to stand up to the blonde , shake her away from this persona of hers and bring the old and true Serena back to him, but it didn't seem to work- every time he had tried to tell her that they should go somewhere else and hint that he wasn't having fun she simply shrugged him off and told him when one of them would lose, then they would go. Hearing those words made him think that if he would lose intentionally then they'd be able to get out of this place and make Serena normal again. But she knew that, and every time it was his turn, she pierced his black eyes with her own blue stormy eyes like an arrow pierces an apple, cutting it in half. It was nerve killing to stare back at her when she glared up a storm at him, and to make things worse, he didn't want to fight with her since he didn't like to fight with anyone when it wasn't necessary, especially not with her, so he simply played the game like she had wanted him to, for two hours.

But now he had lost all of his money which was [for once] fine , since it meant that it was time to go home , leave this devil woman behind and get the real Serena back.

"Serena, I lost my chips, let's go" the teen urged his friend to leave the place as he excused himself out of the chair. It was time that they'd leave this stupid place.

"Wait, what?!" the blonde, who was spending her time counting how many chips she had managed to win, shot her head up to Ash in surprise and quickly got up ; "What do you mean by 'lost your chips'?" she questioned as she gave him an outraged look.

"Exactly what it means; I lost all my money, and you've said that we can go home once that happens, so let's go home. now!" he kept on insisting, his stubborn nature slowly coming out to the open.

Serena however, was not buying it; "You've lost it on purpose" she'd stated with narrowed eyes.

"What are you talking about" Ash denied with a groan, "I didn't "

" Yes you did, I know you did" she continued while pointing a blaming finger on the teen, who simply rolled his eyes in response. Didn't stop her though; "You've lost all of your money intentionally because you were bored and wanted to go home".

Ash pinched his nose and sighed heavily- this was stupid. "Serena.." he started, but was cut off shortly by an angry blonde, who'd decided that she'd had enough.

"No don't 'Serena' me, I am having my best time around this place and you're trying to be a killjoy and make me go home." she went on and yelled at him like a tiny kid who didn't want to leave the candy store and tried to convince her dad to stay even though it was bad for her health. "Come on Ash, I am having fun!"

"Well what kind of 'fun' is this huh?!" he retorted back aggressively, "This isn't 'fun', this is just so... WRONG".

the blonde scoffed in sneered at him while removing a bang from her hair, "Please, you're just being ridiculous Ashy, let's just go play" She remarked while giving an arrogant smile.

Oh she did NOT just use that nickname.

" Ok. First of all" he snarled at her, "Don't. call. me. ASHY". Serena just rolled her eyes, clearly not phased from his warning.

"And second; I'm being ridiculous? ME?! look at what you're doing; you're humiliating people on right and left without even caring. Hell, you've made a woman cry Serena- you've made her cry just to win the freaking game!"

The blonde just glared at him with her eyebrows going up, believing that he was overreacting ; "This is what you're mad about? for god's sakes Ash it's all part of the game" she stated impatiently.

"No it is not!" Ash raised his voice, his temper soon reaching a boiling point; "Serena why exactly are you behaving like this?! you're being so mean just to win a stupid game, this isn't like you, please.." he implored her, "Stop hurting other people for something so stupid like money..".

The blonde glared at him while gritting her teeth from pure rage, her hands were shaking as if she was restraining herself from doing something that she'd regret. Eventually she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to speak;

"How DARE you, Ash ketchum say that my behavior isn't appropriate; when you are going on t o wherever place or adventure you want, without even caring whether we, your friends want to even GO there, since you know, you don't even CARE if we'll be there!" she blew up on him, each words hitting the teen hard. Ash had tried to talk but she didn't even let him.

"And you wanna know why? because you're strong; you're not scared of anything, you're not easily defeated by anything, and there's nothing in this world that can practically stop you."

"And there there's me- that one girl who always stuck by your side because she needed someone to help her guide the way, someone who was strong and carry her with him, even though it made her feel like a piece of trash, and this is an UNDERSTATEMENT"

"So I when I finally got that stupid bastard in the face and won the freaking game, I felt something that I don't think I've ever felt. I felt strong; I felt like I could do anything at any given moment, that I have total control on what's happening around me and to me, I felt that I am finally strong, and you come here and tell me that what I'm doing is wrong?!"

Silence soon struck as the two simply stared at each other; Serena was heavily panting from her angry speech while Ash was rather speechless and stunned that his friend was actually feeling that way. He then sighed heavily before a he gave her a disapproving look; "If you think that what you're doing right now makes you a strong person, then you're wrong"

"You know what, I'm sick of this" Serena replied venomously, "I tried so hard to get myself through that thick and dense skull of yours, but it seems that it can't be done. You want to stay then stay, you want to go then you're more welcome to. I know that I couldn't care less" she hissed at him with a hurting tone as she sat back in her chair.

Ash looked at her as if his heart was crushed into tiny pieces, "You know what.." he said with a shaking voice, "fine".

He then turned around and began to walk away from her.

Serena stared at him walking further and further until he was swallowed by the horde of gamblers. For twenty she was stuck looking at the crowd, hoping to somewhat see him come back. But he didn't, and she was left in the table with a bunch of strangers and a pair of cards next to her hands. Even though she didn't show it, the blonde felt like utter crap- before they had entered this wretched place, they were having so much fun in lumiouse city, eating a nice dinner and walking around the beautiful streets and sights that the city had to offer. And then they went into the casino, and everything just got so messed up. He was right, she was not being herself; In fact, she was behaving like the people that she had hated the most- she was being a sneaky, humiliating and ruthless bitch who didn't care about who she'd have to hurt, as long as she was getting what she wanted. Unlike what she had implied back when she made that angry speech, she wasn't feeling strong; she was feeling empty, as if something was taken away from her chest, leaving a giant hole that hurt like hell.

And poker wasn't going to feel that space.

She got herself up and slowly walked towards the exit to find her crush and apologize to him when suddenly a hand grabbed her by the shoulder. She looked up to see a muscular man in a suit holding her firmly, accompanied by another one of his kind and a familiar, blonde haired face.

"Remember me, sweetheart?", her eyes widened in horror and she froze as she could only imagine what will happen next. Noticing her horrified expression, he smirked at her loudly, pleased to see that she remembered who he was.

"Where should we take her Vick?" the man who grabbed her, apparently Vick's bodyguard asked in a deep voice. "Through the back door" he said as he quickly walked to the other side of the casino to head outside. The two bodyguards grabbed her hands and covered her mouth as they dragged her to the exit to perform their schemes.

Soon enough they reached the door leading to the back alley of the casino, and Serena found herself being tossed like a ragdoll outside on the cold ground. She yelped in pain as her body met the city's cold sidewalk and slowly got up, only to find herself being cornered by Vick and his two men.

"See.. I told you that you can't get away, sweetheart" The blonde man said as he put a cigarette in his mouse. Serena shivered as cold sweat was running down her forehead , what were they going to do to her?

"If you're worried about you gettin raped or killed or somethin like that, then you can rest assured. we're not doin that" Vick calmly told her while faintly cursing since he couldn't find his lighter in his pockets. Few moments later one of his men gave him a lighter of his own, earning a 'thank you' from his boss.

"The only thing were going to do is to make your doll face look like Chuckey's. And if you're not getting it, were simply going to beat the living hell out of you."Vick stated with a menacing grin as smoke came out of his mouth, "And don't think of cryin for help, cause no one's going to hear you scream pumpkin".

After Vick's statement regarding her fate, Serena began to whimper; she was so scared, she was so alone, and she was going to get herself beat up by some crook and his henchmen. She slowly walked backwards only to find herself pinned to the wall with three men cornering her with their fists up and a sadistic smirk on their face.

She wanted to go back to her friends- Bonnie, Clamont, to her mother..

To Ash...

"Don't!" A familiar voice said, getting the attention of the assaulting trio. Serena turned her head to see the source of the voice, and found a very familiar raven haired teen.

Ash stood there with a determined look and fists clenched, looking prepared for a long and painful fist fight. Vick, however, was not impressed.

"Well, here's our knight in shining armor, coming to save the day!" he exclaimed sarcastically, "If you're thinkin about fightin us to save your girl, then look around you; you're out numbered and weak, what can you accomplish here?"

Sticking to his resolve, Ash stood his ground and replied; "Take me instead of her"

Everything around Serena seem to freeze for a second- Ash was offering himself as a sacrifice for Vick's sick desires in order to get her out of way's harm. She felt flattered that after all this time, her crush still tried to keep her safe, but at the same time she didn't want him to do it so he won't get hurt himself.

"Well, this is something I've never heard of" Vick admitted while snorting, amused by Ash's offer, "But what makes you think I should agree to that?"

The raven haired boy took a deep breath before explaining his motives; "Because she didn't know what she was doing, she got caught up with the game" he implored to the blonde haired gangster.

"And besides.. She's my girlfriend, I'd rather that you'd hurt me instead of her" He finished with a genuine smile towards Serena, who was blushing mad from his statement. To her, this was a dream come true, except the part where one of them is going to get himself beat up by a bunch of criminals.

With an amused smirk, Vick pulled his cigarette and tossed it on the ground with a sigh; "You know what, I know exactly what love feels like, and I like that determination of yours. so Il let her go" he said. With a click from his hands, the blonde haired man commanded his men to step away from Serena, and pushed her towards Ash.

The raven haired teen grabbed her shoulders gently, he looked at her horrified face and her red eyes as he could feel how her body was shaking from fear. She looked at him back, his gentle smile and comforting black eyes met hers.

"Ash, you don't have to do this" the blonde whimpered, begging with all of her heart that her savior would stop before he'll get hurt, "Please, I don't want to see you getting hu-"

She was cut off as Ash tenderly grabbed her head and planted his lips on her forehead gently, kissing it in order to calm the poor girl down who was shocked from his act, he then proceeded to hug her while rocking her side to side. "It's ok, Serena" he whispered to her ear , " Everything's gonna be just fine..".

She remained in her spot like a statue, her mind racing as he slowly walked towards Vick and his goons to give them their part of the deal. Serena clenched her fists; Here she was standing still and not doing anything in order to clean up her mess, and like in a fairy tale Ash came to rescue her and make all of her troubles go away. It was like this back in the summer camp, and it was like this all the time when they were traveling. But now it was far more serious, with Ash soon going to get himself badly hurt from a bunch of merciless crooks, and all because she was acting so cocky and mighty when in reality, she should've listened to Ash and leave the damn casino, that way they'd likely never see Vick again. But now it was too late, and she was trying to think of any possible solution that could get Ash to safety.

And that's when it hit her- it was so simple.

But it was going to hurt, a lot.

"Wait!" Serena said as she turned around to see the puzzled trio and a very confused Ash; what in the world was she planning?

She began marching forwards; her back straight as a pole, her eyes unwavering, and her mouth closed tight, resulting with a strong, determined look.

"Oh, what do you want now you stupid kid?" groaned Vick from annoyance as he grabbed his head; he was going to get a headache. Serena kept marching until she had reached Ash, who gazed at her for a few seconds before realizing what she was planning.

His eyes widened in fear as he grabbed her shoulder with panic as if he was having a nightmare. "Serena don't do this, Il handle it please!" he implored her with all of his effort but to no avail, she was determined to get things her way.

"Don't worry, IL be fine Ash" the blonde gave him a soft smile and a wink.

"Serena, I ca-" his begging were abruptly cut off as he felt Serena's hand grab him by the collar and a pair of soft, pleasant lips making contact with his, resulting with a deep kiss filled with passion and love that only the blonde haired girl could deliver. Soon enough, he reacted; grabbing her hips and tenderly pushing his lips towards hers. Moments became minutes, minutes became months and months became years as they kissed each other, expressing their love to each other, never wanting it to end. But eventually it had to end, as Serena broke away from Ash's face, releasing him from their endless dream, They both stared at each other with a smile and a tear in the eye.

"You know.." she whispered to his ear as she made her step towards Vick and his bullies,

"I'm really glad to have you as my boyfriend"

He soon acted, trying to grab her hands but failing to do so, resulting in him collapsing with tears in his eyes and wishing that someone would wake him up from this nightmare. But a small part of him was proud, seeing her radiating with so valiantly and brave.

Serena soon stood in front of Vick and his henchmen, all towering the tiny girl; "So you came back to us, eh?" He said while cracking his fists.

Serena face was stoic and calm, unwavering at the sight of Vick's disturbing smile. "You promise you won't hurt or kill him?"

The blonde man chuckled at her, and placed a hand on her shoulder while motioning one of his men to take a kicking and struggling Ash away from the back alley, "I'm not gonna kill any of you or hurt him at all.." he said as he raised his hand to prepare a punch; "You however, are going to have some bad time.."

Serena closed her eyes and smiled. she could hear her beloved's calls to stop whatever dreadful deed that the gangster known as Vick was about to perform, but decided to ignore them.

A moment before Vick's fist made contact with her face, she felt the hole in her chest being filled, completing her once again. She knew it was going to be quite long and painful until the blonde haired crock would be done with her, but she didn't care.

 _She did what had to be done._

 _She finally felt strong._

* * *

 _Holy shit._

 _ten thousand words_

 _I was not expecting this to be that long. damn_

 _ehm excuse me for my language_

 _so instead of writing a new chapter for my main project, an idea came to me while reading some amourshipping fanfics. and so I was working about this for a week and used this theme because nobody used it for some reason, and it's fun since gambling is one of those activities that can bring a totally different person out of you, so I've tested it on Serena and walla._

 _Now excuse me for my length and possible grammar mistakes, I'm still a scrub. but nevertheless I've put some hard work into it and created my first one shot- featuring amourshipping!_

 _so anyway, it's pretty late, I'm hungry so IL just grab something to eat and head to sleep_

 _nighty night folks!_


End file.
